Sticking up for the little guy

More help needed for small businesses Shuler says

By Frank Bradley
Sentinel writer

In a media teleconference last week, Congressman Heath Shuler spoke of his efforts to help small businesses, many of whom are struggling in the current economy.
“Serving on the Small Business Committee of the House of Representatives, he said he is looking for ways to make it easier for these businesses to obtain loans.
“We need to cut out the red tape, increase the amount small businesses can borrow up to a maximum of $3 million,” he said. He said his committee is pushing through legislation to get small banks lending again.
Regarding health care legislation, Shuler said the earlier bill HR 3200 had lots of problems  that made it a bill he couldn’t support. “There were some bad issues attached to it,” he said;  ”however,  the current proposals being circulated in the House are much improved.”
“It’s as strong as it has ever been for the general public,” he said. “We’ve got to keep it under $900 billion in keeping with the president’s cost curve parameters. Also, we cannot forget our seniors. We want to make sure they are taken care of and not left out.”
Regarding the issue of public option in the health care bill, Shuler said he favors a public option, but that he is fully aware that there are other views regarding it. He again stressed the importance of containing the cost curve to hold down spending. He said one way to hold down the cost is to put more effort on wellness and prevention. More importantly, he said, the House bill is going to be affected with what the U.S. Senate is going to do.
Shuler addressed two other issues: steps taken to make sure there is sufficient “Swine Flu vaccine” distributed to rural areas, and steps  he is taking with his congressional counterpart in Tennessee to secure funding to re-open the section of I-40 that has been closed due to a rockslide. He said a letter had been written to the Federal Highway Administration asking that it be declared a disaster and that funds need to be made available to get the road open as quickly as possible due to its economic impact on this region. He said there are provisions for the federal government to foot the bill 100 percent.